A Boy Grows Up
by RadiantPhoenix
Summary: In the 10 years after Calvin and Hobbes ended, alot has changed. Susie has moved away, Calvin's dad passed away, among other things. When Susie moves back, Calvin realizes that he has changed alot also. Epilogue finished. Read and Review, please.
1. Chapter 1

Yup, another story. Doesn't mean I'm done with my other one. Anyway, Calvin and Hobbes is owned by Bill Watterson. Not me, yo.

It all started when she came back to town. She had left because her dad and her mom split up. She was seven and she lived with her dad in another state, while I sat here... just another boring day after day. Her mom didn't remarry, didn't have anymore kids, it was just me in my secluded home, my mom, my dad, and my stuffed tiger.

Hobbes... I still have Hobbes. Maybe he's not as important to me as he used to be, but I still have him. Many other teenagers would've just shipped their stuffed animals away to the Goodwill or maybe given it to their young relatives. Not me. Sure, Uncle Max moved around here, but he didn't have any little cousins. I don't know all of my relatives, but I believe that I'm an only child. Not just with my parents, but with my entire family. I'm supposed to carry on the family name.

That doesn't mean I'm ready to just leave the house and start impregnating girls all willy nilly. Sure, girls don't seem to have cooties to me anymore, but unlike many of these other 15 and 16 year old parents, I actually care about the responsibility of being a parent. Maybe it's because I don't want to make the same mistake my parents made. I'm sure they made some kind of mistake, although it's not clear to me right now. I think it turned out that my dad was just too busy for me and my mom's main job was to stay around here and make sure that I didn't blow up the entire house or something. I look back at being a kid and regret a lot of it. At least I got outside a lot.

--

Anyway, I'm getting off track. My name is Calvin. I'm 15 years old. I'm one of the busier teenagers in my school. I play baseball, I'm in a garage band with a bunch of other guys from school (I write the songs and I play drums), and I'm kind of a cartoonist. Yeah, as a kid I always used to imagine things around me was like a film noir or a Sci-Fi movie and stuff like that. When I was eight, I wrote down stories featuring these characters I made up in my mind; Spaceman Spiff, Tracer Bullet, and Stupendous Man. It was the most creative thing I could do, since I was kinda told by the police that I wasn't allowed to make snow sculptures anymore.

When I was in 8th grade, I started doodling this guy wearing a derby hat, a trench coat, with a gun, and smoking a cigarette. I looked at it, and I figured that I was really good at drawing. I started selling comics at 30 cents a pop (while I remembered that if I had been doing this when I was six, I would try to put up a stand and sell them for a dollar), and I made a killing. I think I found my calling.

--

So, at the beginning, I said that it all started when she came back. Well, it did.

"Matthew Graves?"

"Here."

"Michael West?"

"Right here."

"Calvin--?"(I don't know you well enough to tell you what my last name is. I don't want you to come looking for me or anything.)

"Right here, Mr. Douglas." I said, not paying that much attention while I wrote what I was going to do this week in my planner. Let's see, I have practice this Tuesday, the band is practicing on Wednesday, there's a game on Thursday...

"Susie Derkins?"

"Here." And there she was, raising her hand. The name didn't register right away with me, I dug around in the back of my mind to remember why that name sounded so familiar...

"Oh yes, yes. You don't really have a place to sit yet do you, Ms. Derkins?"

"No, sir. I just moved here yesterday." Was that a hint? I couldn't tell. Who did I know... Derkins... moved away a long time ago...

"Well, you can take a seat next to... uh... how about Calvin?" She started to walk towards the seat next to me. This would be perfect. Her face didn't really look familiar. She had her hair in a ponytail, as opposed to the medium-sized hair that she used to have. She was wearing what seemed to be a soccer jersey or something. It wasn't a football one or a baseball one or anything. Later I'd find out it was a Lacrosse jersey. After all these years...

"Psst. Hey, Calvin." whispered Michael West, handing me a note. Wasn't the first note I've ever gotten. Normally I get them to remind me that the band's getting together. Mike's the guitarist and the lead singer, meaning he's basically the leader of the group. I opened the note, hoping that band practice wasn't moved to today.

The note said in Mike's scrawled red-inked handwriting, "That Susie chick is kinda cute, don't you agree?" Just because, I took another look at her. Her face kinda DID remind me of someone, and she was kind of cute... but I couldn't really say anything. Truth is, I already had a girlfriend. Well yeah, had. That's a story that's coming up soon.

I wrote back, "So-so," knowing very well that he'd be quick to tell Crystal that I thought another girl was cute. About thirty seconds later, I got another note. This one did come from Mike, but it wasn't his handwriting. As a matter of fact... it was mine.

"Hey Susie,

Roses are Red,

A deep crimson hue,

when you got in trouble,

you sure were too!

Ha! Ha!

Calvin"

This one just confused me. I don't remember this girl, and all of a sudden, Mike's passing me notes that I seemed to have written a long time ago. So I just wrote down, "Uh... okay. I don't get it." I passed it back to Mike... who simply passed it back to Susie, who suppressed a chuckle.

--

After Study Hall, it was time to go home. Mondays and Fridays are the only days where I can go home after school and not have to do anything for the rest of the day, save for homework.

"Hey Calvin."

I turned around, and there she was. She was right there behind me. If Crystal were to see me right there talking to this girl...

"Um..." I barely stuttered out, "Hello."

"You going home?"

"Actually, I have to get home and feed the cat." Not a lie, not exactly a truth either.

"Well, you wanna walk home together?"

"Uh..." What a position I found myself in all of a sudden. This girl, seemingly from my childhood, handing me notes that I don't remember writing, asking if she can walk home with me. Since Crystal had to get on a bus, I guess it was okay. "Sure, I suppose," I shrugged.

--

So, we walked. We really didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. Apparently, she didn't either. Until she broke the silence.

"How's Hobbes?" That took me by surprise.

"Okay, that's it. I ignored this long enough. Now who are you, and what do you want with me?"

"You don't have to yell, Calvin. Well, at least you don't need to now. I figured you didn't know how to do anything else but yell anyway."

I sighed. I didn't say anything after that, and neither did she. Suddenly, she simply said, "This is it." and I paused and looked at the house. It was a two-story house... completely white. The mailbox was normal, said Derkins, still didn't give me a clue about who this was. "It's okay, Calvin. You'll remember me eventually... better get home and feed Hobb-- I mean, your cat." Winking, she departed into the house.

And I ran.


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm home, Mom!" No answer. Figured that. She was probably at the court house, getting the truth from a guy that stole something from a convenience store somewhere. See, when I turned seven, my mom went back to school, so she could get a real job. Eight years later, she's a defense lawyer, yet still in school. I guess it comes naturally, since my dad was a patent attorney. "Hey Hobbes," I called out to... oops, I guess I forgot to tell you guys that.

See, when I was nine, I found this orange kitten cold and deserted in the road. I brought it home and gave it a back. Mom came home and thought it was a nice thing to do, but we had to get rid of it. After a lot of begging and stuff like that, we got to keep him. And I named him after the stuffed tiger I cherished for so many years. He reminded me a lot of him. "Hey there, buddy. Guess you're hungry, eh?" He led me into the kitchen, and I fed him Meow Mix. I used to sing the song to him, but I stopped, cause it felt silly after awhile. I decided since the homework I had wouldn't take that long, to start working on a comic.

"And in this issue of Stupendous Man, he is still held in chains by Babysitter Lady, and--" the phone rang. I quickly answered it, cause the phone doesn't normally ring when Mom's not here...

"WHERE ARE YOU?!" _Oh crap,_ I thought to myself. _I have to work today!_

"S-sorry, Roz." I barely uttered out. "I'll get down... to.. th--" I trailed off and hung up. Roz gets pissed when I show up late for work. I'm sure she'd rather be anywhere else. So I jump on my bike and rode down to the grocery store. When I was riding though, I couldn't help but think about Susie, and try to remember exactly how she remembers me and how I don't remember her. It's weird. I remember Rosalyn, but I don't remember who Susie is. Maybe that's cause she's my boss now, not my babysitter.

--

"What were you thinking, Calvin?!"

"Not at all, Roz. Not at all."

"Just bag the groceries. Oh, oh yes, ma'am, I'll help you with those..."

I'm sure Roz would rather be anywhere else than working at a grocery store. She's my supervisor, and yet she works the register. I bag groceries, cause no one around here wants to. I'm pretty good at my job, but it's kind of secondary, since I get about twenty dollars when I make a comic nowadays. Yes, that's a lot of quarters, thank you for asking.

"When're you two getting married?" I asked, trying to find SOMETHING to do while I bagged this old lady's groceries. God, the things THEY buy...

"Two more weeks. I still can't believe Charlie proposed," Rosalyn replied. When she used to babysit me, she'd always be on the phone with her boyfriend, Charlie.

"Considering you two have been together for over ten years, I'm surprised it didn't come earlier."

"Well, Charlie went to College, and I was kicked out. Guess that one game of Calvinball rubbed off on me, kid." Roz started to smirk. When I was six, I played this game called Calvinball, which was basically me and normally Hobbes making up rules as we go along while using a regular Volleyball. The only rule we had was that we can't play the same way twice. Roz ended up playing once, and she got the hang of it. She stuck around for a year or so, before she graduated and went to college. I don't know what she did to get kicked out, but I know she was there for five years, so she has a degree.

"Calvinball?" the old lady questioned.

"Long story." I replied. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

"You should." she said, smiling. "Ms. Wormwood, remember?" My eyes widened. My first grade teacher. Still out and about.

--

A couple of hours and an awkward conversation later, I was back on the way home. While I was riding back home, my baseball cap flew off. "HEY!" Put the kickstand up, and I ran into the woods, looking for my cap. I found it easily of course. It's kinda hard to not see a black baseball cap during a bright Spring day. When I got back to my bike, I saw a note attached to the handlebars. I started to look around. "Hello?! Hello? Who's out th...ere?" Confused, I opened the note. In a way that seemed to come out of a ransom note...

"SusIE: you S_m_ell! Ha ha!" Then a cut-out of a skull and crossbones. "Susie? You out there?! I don't know what your game is, so just come out now!" After waiting a couple minutes, I got on my bike and rode off. I ran right into my room and listened to the radio. Immediately turned it off when I heard Sexyback again though. Damn Justin Timberlake.

I went back downstairs. Mom wasn't home yet. Worried, I called her cell phone. She wasn't answering, meaning she was probably still in the courtroom or doing deliberation or something like that. I just left a message.

"Hey, it's Cal. Just calling to check up on ya. Ha ha, imagine that. A son checking up on his mom. Well, call back when you get the message." I hang up, and I go back in my room. Inspired by what happened today, I start reading my journals. It's like that kid from the Butterfly Effect, although I don't have flashbacks and fix things that happened. I read what happened when I was seven years old, seeing if that would clear my head.

"Dear Journal. I can't believe my dad is making me do this stupid thing, it's against my rights. I don't want to do this, and have to remember this when I'm a teenager. Hopefully, Hobbes and I will find out how to never grow up. Maybe if I stay in the transmogrifier until I'm 30..." Was I really full of nonsense when I was a kid? This was hilarious to look at though. Maybe if I read into the middle...

"Dear stupid Journal. Everything seems boring now that there's nothing to do. Hobbes just stays in the closet, but what do I know? He's just a stupid tiger and he should be running around with me, cause these are the only years we may have. It's all that stupid Susie's fault. I hate her so much! She shouldn't have moved away. Then Hobbes and I would be at G.R.O.S.S. Headquarters, and we'd be doing fun things! Ha!" Bingo. I don't remember this at all. It's like everything with Susie was blocked out. Further more, what the hell was G.R.O.S.S.? Man, things were crazy back then. I think I'll go back a little bit before...

"Dear Journal! Good news! Susie is moving away! Her parents had a divorce, whatever that means, and she's leaving! Ha ha! Now I don't have to worry about cooties or anything! Now I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeee! No more girls to bug me again! Ha ha!" Now it was coming back... kind of. I remember a person I knew having a divorce... but I couldn't remember anything else. As I thumbed through the book, I saw a page that had a lot of scribbling on it and stuff. Looking through the scribbles, I made out what it said.

"I hate Hobbes! He keeps saying that I should send a card to Susie! I hate this stupid holiday! I don't even know why people need love anyway. I said it before, I'll say it again. People are such jerks!"

"Calvin's a liar! He knows that he looooooooooooooves Susie! He longs to just be held by his sweet divine—"

"Hobbes decided to be smart and I had to rough him up. Sure, I lost the battle, but I won the w--" This was actually entertaining. Then, I saw something that blew my mind wide open.

"Ha! I showed that fleabag! Today at school, I tripped Susie and told her that I had blood soup for lunch! Then I threw a slushball at her! She may have gotten a lucky hit in, but she's a girl! Even after she hit me, she still told my mom and I was sent to my room! Well done, promotions for everyone!"


	3. Chapter 3

Bit of an Author's note to this one. I use their ages based on when Calvin and Hobbes actually ended, which was in 1996. That means, Calvin would've been born in 1990. No, his birthday hasn't came yet. Let's just keep it at that, kay?

Knock knock.

She answered the door. "Hello?" No answer. "Hello?! Anyone there?" And then, it started to rain.

No seriously, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Although she saw me on the side of her house with the hose. "Ha ha ha, Calvin. Very funny. Is this your payback for me bringing back old memories?"

"Nope. It's cause you're a girl and you have cooties. G.R.O.S.S. LIVES AGAIN!" And then, we started busting out laughing. I still have no clue what G.R.O.S.S. was, so I was kind of in the dark about it.

"You still run the 'Get Rid of Slimy Girls' club?"

"Get rid of Slimy Girls? Shouldn't that be G.R.O.S.G. then?"

"You _really_ don't remember that much, do you, Calvin?" Susie brought up a good point. I've already established the fact that I know her from my childhood, she moved away, and it seemed like I had a crush on her. Well, I can ignore all of that, considering I'm happily taken... well, was at least. I'll get into that in a little bit.

"Wanna come in?" I was scared at this point. I don't want to do anything I'll regret later. News travels fast, you know.

"Uh... actually, I..."

"You what? Have to get home and feed your 'cat' again?" She had me trapped. She still thought I was talking about Hobbes. In a way, I was, but not the Hobbes she was thinking off.

"Okay, you have my attention."

--

Susie's room is the exact opposite of what I would've thought it would be years ago. I would've thought it was pink with a bunch of posters of dolls on the walls and flowers and stuff. Susie's room was green and had it's share of posters of bands. She had a lacrosse stick hanging on her door, and a bunch of pictures of her when she lived with her dad, and a few from when she was a baby. I noticed how there were none from when she was six or seven. Guess she didn't think those years were fun. I wonder why...

"I think I have it in here..." Susie said, rummaging through her closet. I felt uncomfortable, cause this was only the second girl's bedroom I've ever been in. If I need to tell you who the other one belonged to, you haven't been paying attention.

"Here it is!" She held up a booklet.

"What is it?" I asked, tilting my head in confusion.

"Memories." Susie replied, grinning. "I have all the notes I've ever received in here. From first grade and beyond."

"Wow. You must be a pack rat."

"I manage. Oh, here's what I was really looking for." It was a blue booklet with a string at the beginning. I figured it was her Diary, cause Hobbes told me (yeah, 15 years old and I'm remembering what a stuffed tiger told me) that she had one.

She cleared her throat and started reading. "May 17th, 1997. Since my mom and dad split up, the judge said that I have to go with my dad, and my dad's moving away. I can't believe I'm going to write this, but that means I'm going to be away from this street that I've hoped to move away from since we moved here last year. What's more weird... I actually feel like I'm going to miss Calvin. He's a jerk, but he seems like he could be nice at heart. Like that one time he actually combed his hair and sent me love notes. I thought he was being sarcastic, but maybe... maybe he wasn't. But, it doesn't matter anymore. I tried being friends with him, and he just didn't care. And tomorrow, we'll move."

I was on edge for the entire time she read that. What happened actually came back to me. I was playing around, and pretended I cloned myself into a good version of myself. I got myself ready for school, answered all the questions right, but the only thing that wasn't good was the fact that Susie thought I was being sarcastic. I even offered to carry her books. I ended up pretending to fight with my "good" self, and it disappeared.

"May 18th, 1997. We're on the road to our new home. I still can't believe we're leaving. I saw Calvin carrying his tiger over to play in his own special way, and I told him that I was moving. He said that he didn't care, and that he would be happy that I left. And I don't know why, but I hugged him. I'm sure as soon as I left, he ran in the house screaming about cooties and stupid things like that, but at least I got that out of the way before I started up my new life."

"Wait, you were seven years old when you wrote this?" I questioned.

"We were very mature for our age, remember?" She started to giggle. I tilted my head and started to smile. It was odd, I don't remember Susie being this... this... fun.

"And here's one that I wrote two years ago." Susie cleared her throat again, obviously delaying what she wrote. "March 24th, 2004. Happy Birthday to me... I guess. I hate this place. It's so... boring. At least I found this Diary, so now I'll be able to look on these days and laugh! Ha ha ha ha! ...well, at least it'll seem funny when I'm back home. There was another custody hearing and the judge said that there's a chance of me going back to live with my mom.

"I miss those days when I lived at my old house. I even miss Calvin. Sometimes I still look at the notes he made when I was living there. What a year that was. All the ransom notes and the love notes. All the trials and tribulations. I wonder if Calvin's any different now. I bet he's still carrying around that tiger throughout all of middle school, running out of school pretending to be a spaceman. Ah... Calvin. I loved him."

That last sentence hit me like a ton of bricks. She loved me? I didn't know if she meant that in the way that I hoped she didn't, or not.

Susie closed the book. "That's weird, isn't it?" she said. "I remembered you after all these years because I found my Diary. And I remembered how stupid yet great you were." If only my six-year-old self could hear that. I'd imagine it now. "You hear that Hobbes?! Susie admitted that I was greater than her!"

"Well?" Susie said, smug-looking smile on her face. "Did you miss me at all?" I thought back to that journal entry I read. And when I thought about how boring it actually was before I got into High School, I thought about it. Yes. I did miss her. Maybe I loved her too. Too late for that though.

"Yes. Yes I did."

"Oh, yeah right. You didn't even know who I was this morning. And here we are, talking about how much we missed each other."

"Hey, my memory's photographic!"

"Oh really? Prove it." Had me there. I had to take a good guess.

"Like um... in the summer, I'd throw water balloons at you, and... it would normally backfire?"

"And in the winter?"

"Snowballs. Lots and lots of snowballs." I saw another smile on Susie's face. And then, it happened. She hugged me. It wasn't a small hug either. She was holding onto me. And it wasn't until I said I had to leave that she let go.


	4. Chapter 4

"I got your message, Calvin. Where were YOU?" My mom asked. She must've been home for about forty-five minutes, cause she looks like she's already taken a shower.

"I was at the store. Overtime and all that." I lied. I was sure that it wouldn't be long until she figured that out. And... she did.

"Hm. You know, Ms. Derkins called me and told me that it was nice to see you two together again." My heart sunk in my chest. It was bad enough that what happened actually happened. I figure my mom must be an awesome defense lawyer.

"Well... we just needed to catch up. Nine years is a long time to be away from someone that was attempting to be your friend." _Someone who loved you,_ I thought quietly to myself.

"Leave a note next time, okay honey? You know you shouldn't scare me like that." Mom was worried I'd run my bike into a car or something. I guess she's still living through when I was six, and my dad trying to teach me how to ride a bike. I imagined that the bike itself was alive and trying to kill me. If only it wasn't the other way around...

--

"I've been trying to call you for like... ever! Where were you?"

"Catching up on old times."

I hated calls like this. You don't want to lie, so you have to butcher the truth. "What do you mean 'Catching up on old times'?" Crystal had me. I didn't know what to say or what to do, so I just said, "Uh... I was reading my journals. I told you about them, remember?"

"Oh right... I forgot." That's how much Crystal and I are the same. We keep forgetting the small things. The fact that I told Crystal about my journals that I had been keeping... I think she looked into one. As a matter of fact... let's look back to that day real quick.

--

"Calvin..."

"Yo."

"Who's this Susie person you keep writing about?"

"Hm? Oh, I don't know. Someone I don't remember, I guess."

--

Funny how things turn around, huh?

"I just called to remind you about what happens next week!"

"What's that? Our anniversary?" I loved doing this. She'll get mad cause I don't remember. She knows I know her birthday is coming up soon. Her Sweet 16th as a matter of fact. She says that she's getting a nice car for her birthday. Well, Crystal was one of those kinds of girls.

"No! My birthday! God, why are you so mean to me?"

"'Cause." All I needed to say.

She giggled and said something I didn't want her to say, and I didn't want to hear. "Hey, why don't we hang out at your house tomorrow after baseball practice?" I really didn't want to. After what happened with Susie, I didn't want to see her. It would feel weird.

"Actually, I need to get some things done for... the band." A half-truth at least. We were thinking about creating a skit for the CD we were working on. But we're going to work on it on Wednesday.

"Okay, I'll help you, then! Oops, gotta go. I'm supposed to be taking out the trash." I figured I might as well faced facts here. She was coming over, and there was nothing I could do about it.

"Okay then, I'll see you tomorrow." I reluctantly uttered out of my mouth.

"I love you, Calvin." That was the last thing I wanted to hear.

"Yeah... bye." I've never said "I love you" to anyone but Mom after the funeral. And maybe Hobbes. Story of my life.

--

At school the next day, Crystal quickly found me and flung herself at me, kissing me right on my nose. "Hi there." I was too tired to give a response. One thing my dad knew was that I am not the most pleasant person in the morning.

Hours go by. School has gotten to the point where it just speeds by. To me this is funny, cause when I was a kid, I used to think that time itself slowed down when kids were in school, but now it seems that time goes too fast when teens are in school. Suddenly, I found myself right back where I was the day before. Susie right next to me, Mike behind me. Mike sent me a note. "Quick meeting, you and me after practice." _Uh-oh, _I thought. Mike never calls quick meetings unless it's important. Crystal would be devastated though. She rarely gets any free time, thanks to her parents. "I don't know if I can make it. Crys is coming to hang out after practice." I sent the note back, and I got two at once. The one Mike had, same red ink he always uses, said "Well, you can bring her too if you want. It won't take long." The other one had newspaper clippings, like the one I got yesterday. "Oh no..." I muttered to myself.

"Susie, if you want to see your doll again, leave $100 in this envelope by the tree out front. Do not call the police. You cannot trace us. You cannot find us. Sincerely, Calvin." Was this a joke? There was something paper clipped to the letter. I looked at it; a picture of some doll tied to a chair. At this point, Susie was scaring me. Did I really tie a doll to a chair? Was I that messed up? Then again, I thought a stuffed tiger was actually living.

I didn't protest to anything. Another crazy note from my childhood, another reminder of all the priorities I had in life. Whatever.


	5. Chapter 5

(Author's note: the Green Day reference is dedicated to a friend of mine. :P)

"You come up with anything yet, Cal?" Mike was wiping the dirt off of his forehead. He forgot that he was supposed to slide feet first, not head first. To tell the truth, it was hilarious. He ended up with a big cut on his forehead in the end. "Casey and Frankie are getting kinda impatient." Casey Weston was our bass player. Kinda shy, but he wanted to overcome that and be a star, probably more than any of us. Alan Carlson was our keyboarder, and was in charge of our MySpace. He keeps talking about how we're doing so good and how everyone's downloading our songs. We don't have a computer, so I wouldn't know. Either way, Mike decided that Alan wasn't a good name for a person in a rock group, so he gave him the nickname Frankie. I call him Alan anyway when I see him in the hallways at school.

"Nope. Just what you have." I glanced over at Crys. She was bored, I could tell, but she was still smiling. Something really didn't seem right.

"Okay then. Crystal?" Mike looked over at her. "We need a screaming fan to make us seem like we're the best things since iPods." I chuckled when I heard that. We weren't that good, but we weren't that bad either. "Can you do that?"

She went hysterical. "OHMIGOD! OHMIGOD! BOYS OF DESTINY!" Let me pause and say that that was the name I came up with. What can I say? I was a Freshman when we started the band. "Oh, that Calvin is soooooooooooooooo hot!"

"Okay, perfect!" Mike gave her the thumbs-up and she leaned against the wall again, checking her cell phone. "Yes sir, Cal. We're gonna strike it big. I mean sure, today MySpace, tomorrow, people all over school buy our CD, and the next day, who knows?"

I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes. "You better believe it."

"Just think Cal. We're gonna join the ranks."

"What ranks?"

"Duh. Of band leaders and the almost more popular than him people. You know, like Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake. Nick Carter and Chris KirkPatrick. Uh... Billie Joe Armstrong and Tre Cool."

"Who?"

"That's not important. Also..." Mike took a look at Crystal again, "...make sure you don't mess anything up with Crystal before tomorrow."

"What?"

"Something's going on with you and that new girl. Don't mess this up." Susie? Mike was getting bent out of shape because of the notes Susie had been sending me?

Swallowing my pride, I said "Don't worry about her. I don't even know her that well."

"Whatever, Cal." Mike smirked and then jumped on his bike. "I'm serious. Don't do anything stupid." With that, Mike rode off, almost falling off of his bike when he hit the curb.

I looked back at Crystal and joined her on the wall. When I touched the wall, she quickly closed her cell phone. "Hey," I said. "I'll give you a ride home."

She panicked. "Uh... that's okay. I can get a ride on the city bus. I'll call you when I get home, bye!" She kissed me lightly on my cheek and then picked up her bag and ran off. _Figures, _I thought. _I'll never understand girls._ _Oh well, no worries._

--

Or so I thought. My mom almost met me at the door. "Calvin, you're home. Help me set the table." She was dressed casually and was cooking something. Whatever it was smelled good too. I didn't know why she was doing this. Was there something she told me that I forgot about? I seem to do that from time to time.

"Uh... what's the occasion?"

"The Derkins' are coming over for dinner." And that's all it took. After I finished setting the table, I went upstairs and buried my head in my pillow. _Well... this is nice,_ I thought. _Mike's already on me for just taking notes from her, and after what happened yesterday... goodness, what a day._ I turned on my CD player, put on my headphones, and drifted off into a song.

--

The doorbell rang. "Calvin! Come down here!" _Here we go again, _I thought, leaving the words of John Lennon to go join Susie and her mother. I saw Susie from the doorway, wearing a windbreaker and loose-fitting jeans. "Um... hello," I shyly called out to Susie.

"Hey Cal," she called back. I just then remembered that Crystal was supposed to call me during the night. It was gonna be really hard for me to talk with Susie here. I knew I was supposed to be loyal to Crys, and I didn't know how Susie felt anymore.

"Dinner will be ready in a second. Until then, make yourself at home." Thank you for breaking up the awkward moment, Mom. I went upstairs hoping to stay up there alone until dinner.

--

Of course, it didn't happen.

Susie knocked on my door and entered. "Hey Cal." She sat down on a bean bag in the corner of my room, and took off her windbreaker to reveal a short-sleeve shirt. I acknowledged that she was there, but I ignored her for the most part. "Something wrong?" she asked me. I couldn't answer exactly, so I just shrugged. She picked up a baseball and started tossing it in the air. After a while, she said, "Your friend Casey asked me out today."

I didn't know how to respond to that. Like I said earlier, Casey's kinda shy. Something had to be up. "I said no. I couldn't," she said after that.

"Why not?" I think I said. I don't remember saying much, just hoping that Susie's decision didn't have anything to do with me.

"Cause I'm a lesbian," she said, smiling.

"Wh-- what?" Really?"

"Nope, just kidding." It wasn't funny to me, at least. "Casey seemed nice, he just... wasn't my type."

"Well what i--" the phone interrupted me. I knew who was calling too. "Hello?"

"Hi, Calvin." Crystal didn't sound very excited to talk to me.

"Hey Crys," I said, looking at Susie out of the corner of my eye. "Listen, it's not a good time to talk..."

"Why? Is Mike over there listening?" I saw that Susie wrote "It's okay, I'm not here" on a piece of paper.

"Uh..."

"Listen, I've been thinking... (Be quiet. I'm saying it...) Maybe we should see other people. I was stunned.

"Why? What, are you cheating on me? Who was that you were talking to over there?"

"Listen, you're a nice guy Calvin, but..."

"Forget it. Mike's gonna kill me anyway. Bye, Crystal." I hung up the phone and buried my head back into my pillow, swearing under my breath. For that split second, I forgot that Susie was even in the room.

"Something wrong?" she asked again.

"Oh... oh nothing." I answered, not even looking at her. I didn't understand any of this. _What did I do to deserve this all of a sudden?_ The questions were filling my head like a water bottle, but none of the questions had answers to go along with them.

"Crystal's brother just got out of jail." My ears perked up and I looked at Susie. "I overheard her talking to her friends about how he was going to hurt you if he saw you with her. Was she your girlfriend?" Susie never ceased to amaze me.

"No, you're lying. You have to be! S-she was with me this morning! And in the afternoon!"

"She didn't know how to break it to you, Cal. I'm sorry..." All of a sudden, words erupted from my mouth.

"Oh sure. You're reaaaaaal sorry. Really sorry that you just happened to reappear. Nothing bad was happening then. Then you start sending me notes, you give me this bad news, Mike's mad at me for you sending me these notes, and--" I stopped. I didn't want to say anything that I'd regret. Susie got out of the beanbag with almost a blank expression on her face.

As she left the room, it was the first time I had seen the scars on her arm.

--

Dinner was roast beef with a side of light conversation. Susie didn't have any though. As it turns out, she's a vegetarian. I simply took a couple pieces of bread and made a sandwich while I watched Susie sit on the couch listening to her iPod. I couldn't stop thinking about her arm. I mean, I couldn't even imagine it. Susie Derkins of all people, sitting on a bed or whatever, taking a razorblade or whatever and slicing her arm with it.

I stopped when she looked at me and gave me a "Take a picture, it'll last longer" look. I didn't want to say anything, since Mrs. Derkins was in earshot. I continued to eat while Susie sat on a couch, and I listened, although not entirely, to our moms talking.


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note of Doom: This chapter's a bit different. How? I did it in Word instead of Open Office. :P Enjoy anyway.**

As you could imagine, Mike had me verbally held at gunpoint.

"What the hell, man?!" he shouted, yet loud enough for only me to hear. "I thought I told you to not mess things up! All of a sudden I found out that you two are broken up?! What's the deal with that?!" I was getting mad myself. How was this at all my fault? If what Susie said was true, then it's Crystal's brother's fault. "Dude, we needed her for the skit for the CD. I even tried to get a spare and that didn't even work!"

"Wait wait wait. A spare?" I said, confused.

"Yeah, a spare. You know, that Susie chick. I figured she must be a real firecracker under that quiet side, so I had to see if she'd help us out."

My fists started to clench. "So you tried to set her up with Casey."

"Yeah. And I'm going to try Frankie today. One way or another, we will have our fa…"

I walked away. And as soon as I turned the corner, I punched the wall, hard enough for everyone to stare at me. The pain almost immediately shot back into my arm, leaving my knuckles distorted and leaving me with a bruise on my fingers.

Later that day, as expected, I could see Frankie making his move. He called it the "Carlson Charm". I saw him approach Susie, and he went into making it happen. He'd say "Hi, my name is Alan. What's yours?" I couldn't clearly see what she said, but it looked like "I know. Your friend Mike told me about you. But he said your name was Frankie." I saw the expression on Frankie's face. Keeping it smug, bad, just like he said he'd do.

He seemed to say "That's my stage name. In real life, my name is Alan." He then shook his head, attempting to style it without touching it. I knew what was coming next. I took a look at Mike standing in the lunch line, who was looking at Frankie while moving. He knew what was coming next too. "I've been keeping my eye on you, and I think…" at this point, he'd grab her hand, "--I think that you would be the perfect girl for me." As pissed off as I was, I couldn't help chuckling at this. There was no way that Susie could fall for this.

Then all of a sudden, Susie hugged him. Then I was confused. _That was the corniest pick-up statement ever, and she fell for it?!_

And then, Frankie keeled over in pain, clutching his… well… lower parts. Susie patted his head and walked away.

Mike sat down next to me and was going to ask if it worked before I cut him off. "The Charm failed. And there's one chance left," I said, smile on my face.

--

"She must be a lesbian or something."

"She's not. Trust me."

"She denies Case… then Frankie… then me? No, no way. Something's up."

What had happened was one of the most hilarious things I've ever seen. He started walking up to her, she said no, and he turned right around and walked away. "Ah well, Mike. Guess where you failed, I'll have to…"

"Oh HELL no!" Mike shouted, jumping off of the bench. "Your job is to get back together with Crystal."

"Dude, no. If she doesn't want to be with me, then…" Silence. Susie walked by and waved at me. Mike just blinked.

"…nevermind."

--

After school, I rode by Susie's house, more of Mike's words burning in my mind. "Do it or we'll need to find someone else to write our songs for us." Doesn't matter anyway. I said it in the first chapter; I can get by just doing comics (of which I had three new ones done). Not like being kicked out of the band phased me anyway.

I rang the doorbell. Susie answered the door. "Um… hey Calvin." She seemed to be dressed in a too-long T-shirt and even though I couldn't see it, shorts.

"Wow. Not very conscious of how you look, are you?"

"Whatever, Cal."

"It looks like someone put a cloth over a small tree and drew in the rest with crayon." And like a hot spatula raked across my face, Susie slapped me. Hard.

I licked the inside of my cheek. "Things never change," I said, smirking a bit. "Too bad I knew that after I stopped carrying Hobbes around." I looked around awkwardly. "Is this a… bad time?"

"No, no, Come in," She let me in and closed the door. "Why are you here?"

I fumbled with my words. "Susie, I…"

She folded her arms. "You aren't being sincere." I gave her a quizzical look (Wow, I didn't even know I knew that word). "Calvin… you're the one I'd say yes to…"

"But what?"

"Well…" she took a seat and sighed. "Your heart isn't in it."

"How do you know?" I asked, a little irritable.

"Mike wants you to do this for your band. You don't want to, you'd rather be with Crystal, but you're scared of her brother." Is she a freakin' mind reader or something?

"Oh. Well I…" I stopped. It wasn't worth it. She was 100 right. "Susie, can you at least help me out with this?"

Susie nodded. It was settled. Mike wasn't going to kick me out of the band, and I can still smooth everything out with Crystal.

Things may just get better all of a sudden.


	7. Chapter 7

That night, I had a pretty peculiar dream.

I was in a forest. It seemed to be winter, since there was snow on the ground, and all the trees around me didn't have leaves on them. It reminded me of one of those samurai movies that are on late at night on TV. All of a sudden, I heard footsteps. I dove behind a tree, checking my back for a samurai's sword. Nope, wasn't one of those kinds of dreams. Then… what kind of dream was this? All of a sudden, I saw two figures, a large one and a small one. Then, I heard voices…

"…it's not going to work. You couldn't even hit a tree even if you stood in front of it!"

"Drop dead, Hobbes. It is going to work, I'll show you!" Hobbes? Then that second figure… must be…

"I'll tell you what, Hobbes. I'll bet you a quarter that it WILL work."

"Ha! Consider your quarter as good as spent." I looked away from the two to see another one… next to a silhouette of a snowman. I think I knew who this was too. She wasn't saying anything, but she was humming. She was unaware of what was coming to her.

All of a sudden, the short figure started running quickly at the girl and the snowman. He picked up some snow along the way, quickly rolled it into a snowball, and threw it, aiming directly at the little girl. His aim is horrible, at least it must be. He ended up hitting the snowman instead.

The girl turned around. "Calvin!" The kid, that is to say, me, stopped in the snow and tried to run away. The little girl took some snow off of her fallen snowman and made two snowballs. She threw one at the kid, a direct hit. And then, she threw one at me.

I stumbled back a bit, before falling against a tree. But… it wasn't a tree. It was Crystal and another large silhouette.

Crys was crying…

"I'm sorry, Calvin. I want to make this work… I really do."

Then I looked over to my right. The little girl was joined by her older self. Susie shot me a daring glance, completely stunning me. No seriously, I couldn't move. All of a sudden, the large figure moved Crystal out of the way, and clenched his fists. I closed my eyes, expecting pain.

And then, I woke up.

--

When I woke up in bed, I was literally shaking. _What was THAT all about?_ I asked myself, getting up to go get a drink of water. That's when it hit me. I need to tackle this head on. If Crystal's brother wants to kill me, then he'll do it.

But he'll do it for a different reason. I wasn't going to try to patch things up with Crystal. Things were finally open to me for once. I mean, she DOES care. She said that she would go out with me, had I asked her with my heart in it.

…but then I figured I should wait.

--

"I got it!"

The ball landed right in my hand, and I tossed it at Mike, forcing a double play. I had told Mike earlier that Susie was going to help us with the skit, even though none of us (yet, I would assume) was going out with her. But right now, there wasn't any time to think about that. Another pop fly was headed my way. Clumsy batters.

It was a massacre to say the least. All the batters on the other team either didn't hit the ball, didn't make it past our pitcher, or when they did, always hit it so high that I would catch it and throw it to Mike, who'd throw it to our pitcher. Either way, our pitcher didn't really do so hot anyway. Five walks in a game, god.

"I wish all the teams we had faced was this easy," Mike said.

"WERE this easy, Mike," I said, correcting his grammar.

"Whatever, Mr. Calvin. So what's the deal with Crystal? You still trying to get back with her?"

"Nah. There's some things she needs to work out first." If she really liked me, then she'd stay with me, even if her brother was after me. But obviously, that wasn't the case. Even still, I was going to call her when I got home, and see what the deal is. I also had a back-up plan, just in case…

--

…her brother answered the phone. Typical. He sounded really gruff, like someone who would've been incarcerated.

"Hello? Who is this?!"

"Uh… hello. Is uh… Crystal home?"

"Oh, this must be that one kid she's been seeing. Or not."

"Or not? What is that supposed to mean?"

Crystal's brother cleared his throat. "I've been watching you with that other girl. I wouldn't have cared if you were just seeing her, but I will NOT have you making a fool out of my sister. You stay away from her, Twinky. Or I'll kill you." He hung up. Twinky?

--

"You're crushing my bread!"  
Naturally, I was very distracted, which didn't help me at work. I ended up putting someone's bread in a bag first, and then put a bunch of canned goods in there. Obviously, the end result was bad.

"Oh, sorry. I guess I wasn't… paying attention." I didn't get scolded by the woman. In the end, I was yelled at by Roz.

"I thought I told you to keep your head out of the clouds as long as you work here!"

"Sorry Rosalyn. Things haven't been going so well for me lately."

"I've had my share of bad days too, but I never let it effect me at work." Yeah, because you're working the register. You don't have to memorize where the food goes in the bag. The rest of the day went smoothly, with no one else I recognized coming through for any awkward conversations.

--

My mom was working late again, and when I got home, Susie was there. "Uh… Susie? What are you…"

"My mom's not home yet. So I decided that for once, I should come here, instead of you coming to my house." I wasn't even planning on running into Susie today. But who am I to complain? Today wasn't my day, considering I was fearing for my life from some big brother type person.

We just sat there on the couch, TV onto VH1, one of those Best Week Ever type shows that they have. I wasn't paying attention. I was thinking about things…

"So… Calvin. You never told me what I was helping with." D'oh! I forgot!

"Oh, uh… we need a fan. You don't have to be screaming or anything," Me forgetting the part about us being the best things since iPods. "You just have to make us seem… good."

"Are you?"

"Not really, but you know. It's all propaganda. That's what bands are about, besides making music." We then just sat in silence… before she forgot about something else.

"I haven't seen your dad since I've been here. Where has he been?" I hated this question. People ask me this almost all the time, so I figured I might as well answer.

"He's dead."

Susie gasped. "What happened?!"

I sighed, trying to tell myself to tell her. "Well… it was raining. He didn't have gas in his car, and Dad, being the person that he was, decided to take his bike for a ride. We both, my mom and I, tried to talk him out of it, but he was persistent. He ended up going, and we found out that on his way back from the office, he slipped and was hit by a car. He was almost killed on contact."

All of a sudden, I could feel Susie's body against mine again. She was hugging me, almost harder than last time. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Calvin…"

"It's okay. It was a while ago. I'm over it now. I just think back to when I would've wished that he was gone and I wonder what I was thinking." Normally by now, I would've pushed her away by now, but something felt right about this. I couldn't help but put my arms around her too. And we almost stayed like that until her mom called her cell phone, asking where she was.

--

That night, I knew what I wanted to do. Tomorrow was going to be epic.


	8. Chapter 8

The next day, Crystal found me. "So... you know, right?" she said, trying not at all to look me in the eyes.

"Yeah. I know."

She looked down at her sandals for a second and then looked back at me, giving me a smile. "I thought about what I'd say when you found out... but then I realized that we can still be together Cal. Just... only in school." This is what I wanted. Well... I did want it.

"Thanks... but no thanks, Crys," I said. She gave me a surprised look, like her brother got hit by a truck (which by the way, I wanted to happen). "It's just not there anymore." With nothing else that needed to be said, I walked away. I looked back, and I saw that she was crying. It kind of hurt me a little bit, considering we had been together for about six months. _Well, that's done,_ I thought. _Just one thing I have to anticipate now before I go to Mike's after school._

And after school, the figure from my dream approached me. I knew who it was from the phone call, so it wasn't a surprise when I turned around.

"Ah... hello, Moe."

"You're dead, Twinky," Moe snarled, cracking his knuckles.

"Nice to see you can still walk on two legs without any help, Moe." He punched me right in my stomach. I fell to a knee for a moment, but I almost got up right away. Having this happen to you for two years before changing schools keeps you endured for this kind of thing. Plus I guess I never told you about the uh... other fights I've gotten into.

"Heh heh... your fists still feel like anvils." I snickered a little bit, showing a little bit of cockiness. "Don't know if you have the brain cells to be an anvil though..." This time, he slugged me in my chest, causing me to stumble back a little bit, once again taking me to a knee. Unable to control it, I spit up some blood. Poor predictable Moe. I knew what he was going to do next, and so now was the time for me to strike back with someone besides words.

...okay, one more time.

"What I don't understand..." I started to say, standing up and smirking, "is how your mother can give birth to a rhinocerous, but then give birth to your pretty little sister." That was it. I had crossed the line that time. I saw Moe's fists clench so hard, I think it drew blood. He swung for my face. Me being the more squirrelly, I ducked, and then I felt my leg attempting to kick him behind his. Then as hard as I could, I kicked him in the stomach, at least winding him. And someone as big as Moe is, that's slightly easy to do. I clenched my hands together and said, "I broke up with her." and then I smashed my fists against his head, stunning him. He just looked at me, not daring to move. I wiped some blood off of my mouth, hopped on my bike, and took one last look back. Crystal ran to Moe's aid, and gave me an almost evil look. _That's okay, Crystal,_ I said, riding off away from the school. _You'll find someone. Lord knows I did._

--

Mike, Frankie, Casey, and Susie were all waiting for me in Mike's backyard. "You look like hell hit you with a beagle, Cal," Casey said, watching me fall off of my bike.

"Yeah, what happened?" Mike asked, helping me up.

"Had a little run-in with a punk. Turns out, I couldn't get it to work between Crys and I."

Mike shrugged. "Fair 'nuff. Let's get this show started., shall we?"

Mike wasn't at all rich. Truth be told, he wasn't rich at all. But he somehow had enough money to set up a studio in the bastment. We recorded all our songs in here, so this comedic thing we did for the CD would happen. It was just me, Frankie, and Casey. And of course, Susie. It wouldn't work without Susie.

And so, we started.

"'Ey, come on! Michael said that we need to get to the studio and work on this 'ere album!" I said, attempting an English accent.

"You mean the album that they're listening to?" Casey asked me, looking out at Mike through a window. Mike was probably pressing a button that made it sound like we were in New York or something, I dunno. Mike's that smart, he probably did.

"They're already listening to it? 'Oly crap, we need to hurry then!" I said, maintaining my accent, although I don't know if the English actually say crap.

Frankie was trying not to laugh, and he simply uttered out "What's with the accent, Cal?"

"Oh, you mean this _delightful_ thing?" I said, showing as much enthusiasm on the word 'delightful' as I could. "Girls dig the accent."

"No way. You just think that because the Beatles were British and girls were crazy about them."

"Casey's right. There's no way tha--" Frankie started before...

"Whoa! It's those guys from that one band!" Susie interrupted. This was totally scripted though, although she was supposed to say the name of the band.

"Good evening to you, miss." I said, making it seem like I was tipping my hat to her.

"Wow, an English accent! I find that... totally hot." She said, a bit of sarcasm in there.

"Yes I've heard. And I just happen to find highly attractive too." And right there, in the recording room, Casey and Frankie right beside me, and Mike looking stunned from beyond the glass, I kissed Susie Derkins. Right on the lips. She obviously didn't know how to react to it, and was obviously very shocked at this. But after this, she put her arms around me, showing me that she's kissing me back.

"Uh... blimey." Casey said with an accent, trying to restore order by going back to the slip. "I hope Calvin doesn't go far, we need to get him back to the studio, right Sir Frankie?"

Frankie was a bit stunned, only due to the fact that there was no charm to this. "Uh... sure." Mike gave us the cut signal, so Susie and I stopped what we were doing.

"Wow..." she whispered. "I guess I never saw that coming."

"Neither did I." I let go of her, and got back to business... well, my kind anyway. "Hey, listen. I got this idea..." I whispered it into her ear, and pulled out a tape. When I left the room, Mike almost met me at the door.

"You planned this didn't you, you sly bastard?" Mike said, smile on his face, almost smirking. "You broke up with Crystal so you could do this, eh?"

"Not really. I broke up with Crystal because I didn't like her anymore. That and her brother was going to beat the stuffing out of me, although I did that to him." I started to smile and reach into my pocket. "Hey, I had a brainstorm for a skit, just me and Susie. Here, you're gonna need this tape." I handed him the tape, and he put it in the tape recorder.

"Uh... you gonna need us?" Casey asked, blushing.

"Nah, you guys can take five." Susie and I went into the recording room again. This is where the fun began.

--

"Nice place, you have here, Mr... what was it?"

"Uh... Calvin. Friends, family, agents, acquaintances such as yourself... they all call me Calvin. But I've been known to answer to Tracer Bullet, Stupendous Man, and Spaceman Spiff." This wasn't scripted at all. It was actually improvised, but hey. At least people would know who I am and what I do now.

"Hey... what happened to your accent?" Susie asked, smiling a smile that could've killed me.

"What accent, darling?" I didn't put the accent back into my voice, I just acted like I forgot completely about the accent.

"Uh... nothing. Say, this coat's really uncomfortable. You have a closet around here?" This is where the fun began.

"Wait! No!" I said, false alarm in my voice. I pointed at Mike, who was quick and ready to push the button.

What came out of the speakers was a tiger's roar. And what came next was Susie screaming.

"What the hell?!"

"Whoa! Whoa. Easy there." I said, almost cracking up. I could see Casey and Frankie were laughing too, considering that this was totally unexpected. "Uh... girl I just met, I'd like you to meet my tiger, Hobbes." I then put on another voice I just found in my head and said, "Say, why didn't you tell me you were bringing a total babe around here?" Mike almost fell out of his chair laughing. Of course, this was planned between Susie and I, so we regained composure and started again.

"Oh uh... hello... Hobbes." I felt Susie's hand touching mine. "Nice to meet you."

"Okay, that's enough." I said, normal voice. Then back in the other voice, I said, "Why? You want her all to yourself, Romeo?" Normal voice, "What?! No way! I was just... uh... getting ready to take her home!" Other voice, "Yeah right, you're longing for her touch, aren't you, you charmer you!"

Susie was laughing to herself and said, "If this is a bad time..."

In my normal voice, "By golly, I'm gonna make you eat those words, fuzzball." In the other voice, "Don't threaten me, lunkhead. I'll rip you to shreds." "Try it!" I pointed at Mike again, who was in hysterics. He did have enough left in him to press the play button again, playing sounds of things crashing and breaking and stuff. Then a large 'WHAM' like sound, and I said in my normal voice, "Grr... by the time I'm done with you, I'll have a new rug!"

Susie, calm and collective, even after all that, said "Uh, listen, I have to run. You're gonna be okay, right?"

"Yeah yeah, I don't think you should see what I'm about to do anyway. Yaaaaaaah!" He started playing the sounds again, along with a door closing sound.

Susie chuckled a bit and said "Imagine. A guy fighting against a stuffed animal, and losing." I made the signal, and Mike stopped recording. Highlight of this entire ordeal.

--

Later that day, at Susie's house, she asked me the question I was waiting for. "Why'd you kiss me, Cal?" I looked elsewhere, around at all the posters.

"I dunno."

"Yes you do." She's right, I did. But I didn't want to say it... just yet. So I stalled.

"Haha... I just realized that this is exactly what I wouldn't have wanted years ago."

"That's true... but Cal... this is important to me. Why'd you do it?" Damn, trapped. I sighed.

"Susie, I thought about everything. About our childhood, about what you've been going through, about Crystal, about how everything's changed since you came back." I looked down at the floor. "I mean... why is it that you cut yourself?"

Susie rolled up her sleeve and looked at her wrists. "You saw this?"

"Yeah... I saw it when you left my room after Crystal called me."

Susie seemed a bit embarrassed. "Well... I didn't really have any friends where I moved to. I mean, sure there were kids my age, but they were too... too..." She paused a little bit.

"Too... what?" I asked, trying not to impose on her that much.

"Too... normal," she finally said, looking at me. "There was nothing for me up there, everything was so... boring." She laid on her bed, looking at the ceiling. "I don't know if you knew this Calvin... but I always thought you were fun to be around. Summer and Winter and all the times in school, in the lunchroom, all that. You were weird, but you were so... interesting."

By now, I was already caught up on everything that I forgot. The dream was just the cherry on top. "Yeah... I suppose I wasn't the most normal person around."

She moved some hair out of her eyes. I just noticed how completely beautiful her eyes were. "When I moved, everything seemed off. So perfect and neat. All I could think about was how I wished that someone like you would come along. To make things worse, I felt like it was my fault that my parents split up. I should've tried to do something to stop them. And then one day... some girl told me that she always felt good after she cut her wrists. Imagine that. Me falling for something like that. But... I did feel like I was getting something off of my chest. So I kept doing it... all the way up until we moved here."

I felt bad for her... this was almost all my fault... and I didn't know what to say.

"The real thing is, I was kind of weird when I started to grow up. I started seeming... very different than all the other teens. Like I felt like being different was the way I can happy. Then when I came here and started seeing you again... I felt happy for the first time in a while. Don't you see, Cal?" She then hugged and held onto me. "I love you, Calvin..."

And there they were. I just let those words hang for a while. I didn't know what to say to Susie... all this was because of me, I'm the reason that she was so unhappy when she moved, I'm the reason that she's happy when she got back, and now this.

And everything came down to this. "...you still want to know why I kissed you?" I whispered in her ear. She nodded. "Because... I love you too, Susie." And we just sat there, holding each other, before I felt my lips touching hers again... and everything seemed at peace.

--

**tear Sad, no? But anyway, if you think we're done here, you're mistaken! There's one more chapter on the way!**


	9. Epilogue

I know, this is the epilogue and that, and I'm supposed to say how everything turns out, but I don't want to start it happy like saying "Susie and I got married and had a kid." Nah, I'm someone who likes to get all the bad things out of the way first.

Obviously, Moe wouldn't take the beating lying down. Sometime after school ended in the summer, he found me right after school. "Hey Twinky. School's out. Guess what that means."

"It's time for you to hibernate, Moe?" I probably shouldn't have said that, as then I saw two other guys, no more bigger than Moe next to him. "Ah, so the whole pack is here?"

"Time to die, Twinky." They swarmed me and beat me down. Luckily, Casey had his metal baseball bat with him, and Frankie and Mike just happened to be nearby. They got them off of me, but they did their damage. I walked away with a couple cuts, and a broken arm. Moe however, walked away with a charge of aggravated assault (Hey, my mom's a lawyer. She comes in handy sometimes) and five MORE years in prison. Nice.

--

I never really saw Crystal after we broke up. From what I heard, she's doing good for herself, she's a professor at a college and is happily married. To Mike. Imagine that.

--

Mike sold over 150 copies of our CD. People tell me all the time that they LOVE the part where I voiced the "talking tiger". Go figure. We never put out another CD, but we still come into contact with each other to this day.

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Casey got over his shyness with the release of the CD, and decided to put his skills into Drama class. He was so good, that he eventually landed on Public Access, before he started doing community theatre. He got his wish, at least in town.

--

Against what I would've made it seem, Frankie didn't actually become a date doctor, teaching others the charm, despite the fact that he DID have over seven girlfriends in the last couple of years we had in school. He didn't settle down, but Frankie ended up making music for bands that were too lazy to learn how to play their own instruments.

--

Mike didn't get into the music business. He ended up working at a newspaper, somehow, I don't know, don't ask me. Oh yeah, he married Crystal, but I already said that. He didn't get into any trouble with Moe, since Moe and Crystal haven't seen each other since Moe jumped me.

--

And of course, there was me and Susie. We started going out after that day, and let me tell you something. When you have a girlfriend, and other people (who aren't your friends and understand that kind of thing) will start asking you when you're gonna "hit that", whatever that means. If they meant what I think they meant, then we actually didn't until we felt that we were ready, which was like two years after we had been going out, and that was after I proposed to her.

After the marriage, I found out that Susie was pregnant. We ended up with our first son, who I named Thomas (after this philosopher guy). He's the most beautiful thing to happen to me since... well, Susie came back.

And hopefully, when he turns six, he'll care for Hobbes, just like I did.


End file.
